Access to Mental Health Services Tabled 21 March 2019 This - - PDF document

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Access to Mental Health Services

Tabled 21 March 2019

This presentation provides an overview of the Victorian Auditor-General’s report Access to Mental Health Services.

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Overview

45%

Engagement in:

• employment
• education
• community

Wellbeing Quality of life Physical health

• f Victorians

experience mental illness in their lifetime

Mental illness

Mental illness affects not only an individual's wellbeing and quality of life, but also their physical health and engagement in employment, education and community. With 45 per cent of the Victorian population experiencing mental illness in their lifetime, ensuring access to mental health care is vital to supporting a healthy and productive Victorian population.

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Background

Victoria’s 10-year mental health plan (2015) Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Manages mental health system

In 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services, or DHHS, the agency responsible for managing Victoria's public mental health system, published Victoria's 10-year mental health plan. The 10-year plan was developed through extensive consultation and acknowledges that there is a significant gap between service supply and demand, creating increased pressure

• n mental health services.

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What we looked at

Objective:

To determine if people with mental illness have timely access to appropriate treatment and support services.

Key area examined:

Has Victoria's 10-year mental health plan (10-year plan), and supporting activities started to address the existing access problem?

Our audit objective was to determine if people with mental illness have timely access to appropriate treatment and support services. DHHS and the broader mental health sector notes that Victorians with a mental illness do not have timely access to appropriate treatment and support services as expressed in the 10-year plan. For this reason, our audit focused on analysing whether the 10-year plan and supporting activities will start to address the existing access problem.

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Who we looked at

• Bendigo Health
• Latrobe Regional Hospital
• Melbourne Health
• Monash Health
• Peninsula Health
• South West Healthcare

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

Alongside DHHS, we gathered evidence from six health services covering metropolitan and regional Victoria.

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What we found

DHHS has done too little to address the imbalance between demand for, and supply of, mental health services in Victoria. Victoria’s mental health system lags significantly behind other jurisdictions. Urgent attention required for:

• Current shortfall in beds
• Significant gap between health service costs and the price DHHS pays
• Inequity in funding and service provision between geographic areas.

DHHS cannot expect to meaningfully improve clinical care models or the mental health of the Victorian population while the system operates in crisis mode.

We found that DHHS has done too little to address the imbalance between demand for, and supply of, mental health services in Victoria. The lack of sufficient and appropriate system-level planning, investment and monitoring

• ver many years means the mental health system in Victoria lags significantly behind other

jurisdictions. The current shortfall in beds, the significant gap between health service costs and the price DHHS pays, and the long-standing issue of inequity in funding and service provision between geographic areas across the state require urgent attention. DHHS cannot expect to meaningfully improve clinical care models or the mental health of the Victorian population while the system operates in crisis mode and waiting for the

• utcomes of the Royal Commission into Mental Health to act, will only increase the

problems the commission seeks to address.

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10-year plan

Overseen by an expert taskforce to inform priority areas Priority areas do not adequately reflect the lack of system capacity Priority areas do not adequately reflect the lack of system capacity Overseen by an expert taskforce to inform priority areas

Implementation of the 10-year plan was overseen by an expert taskforce whose role was to inform priority areas for reform. These priority areas do not adequately reflect the underlying issue of lack of system capacity.

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Monitoring and reporting on progress

The taskforce did not develop a clear work program, time lines or targets → No monitoring against the plan by the Mental Health Expert Taskforce or DHHS Lack of reporting reduces accountability

Other functions of the expert taskforce were to develop a work program and advise the Minister for Mental Health on performance measures and targets. However, the taskforce did not develop a clear work program of actions with time frames. Consequently, neither the taskforce nor DHHS have monitored the plan's progress against any agreed deliverables. This lack of timely internal progress reporting significantly reduces accountability for achievement against the plan.

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Monitoring and reporting on progress

Victoria has the lowest per capita expenditure for health services in Australia (2015–16) Growth funding filling the gap between service costs and the price DHHS pays, limiting provision of additional services Between 2011–12 and 2015–16, national recurrent expenditure per capita on specialised mental health services grew an average of 0.7% annually—in Victoria it declined by 0.3% annually

As system manager, DHHS has a responsibility to ensure service access by supporting the foundations of the system that include funding, capital infrastructure and service distribution. Between 2011–12 and 2015–16 national recurrent expenditure per capita on specialised mental health services grew an average of 0.7 per cent annually. Over that time in Victoria it declined by 0.3 per cent annually. In 2015–16, Victoria's per capita recurrent expenditure was the lowest in Australia. Funding for the mental health system since the 10-year plan was issued has increased. However, services advise that this funding has been partially directed to closing the existing gap between their service costs and the price DHHS pays, therefore not fully providing additional services.

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Understanding and meeting demand – capital infrastructure

Victoria has one of the lowest mental health bed bases nationally Bed shortage will likely continue for the life of the 10-year plan 2017 review advised bed base needs to grow by 80% over 10 years to match other jurisdictions

Victoria has one of the lowest mental health bed bases nationally. A 2017 review commissioned by DHHS advised that Victoria's bed base needs to grow by 80 per cent over the next decade to reach levels of service provision of other Australian jurisdictions. There were 53 new beds funded in 2018–19. However, there are no further new beds in the capital pipeline, and while DHHS aims to complete an infrastructure plan, it will likely take DHHS some time to complete it; secure and allocate funding; and then plan and build infrastructure, meaning the bed shortage will likely continue for the life of the 10-year plan.

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Understanding and meeting demand – service distribution

Place of residence determines which service Victorians can access DHHS has not taken action to address this long-term known issue Creates problems that hinder service access

The consumer’s place of residence determines which services they can access. This creates practical problems that hinder service access, particularly as the boundaries for mental health service areas don’t align with local government or other service area boundaries. Despite understanding these issues for many years, and commissioning work to examine them and make recommendations, DHHS has taken no action to address them.

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Recommendations

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recommendations for DHHS DHHS accepted all recommendations

(Two accepted in-principle pending outcomes of the Royal Commission into Mental Health)

We made six recommendations for DHHS. The department accepted all recommendations, with two accepted in-principle pending the

• utcomes of the Royal Commission into Mental Health.

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www.audit.vic.gov.au

For further information, please view the full report on our website: www.audit.vic.gov.au For further information, please see the full report of this audit on our website, www.audit.vic.gov.au.